Once I got the giggles out my system, after hearing the learned judge’s outburst in the Vicky Pryce perjury trial, I pondered the matter and realised that trial by jury is not unlike the witches ordeal of old.

Consider the make up of the jury; people whose single qualifying attribute for the task is the fact that they are on the electoral register.

How would you feel having your fate decided by the sort of people that you normally cross the road when you see them coming towards you? I could go on with a list of undesirable character traits and intelligence deficiencies ad infinitum, but I think you get the gist of it.

Everything else in the world is subject to change and update – I believe they call it “moving with the times”. It is time to examine whether a jury is still fit for purpose or whether we need to use professional jurors in order to “keep up with the times”

Most accountants probably don’t give much thought to what their return on capital is . In fact, they aren’t even giving consideration to what their capital actually is . When we are asked to value a practice a lot of our clients get a shock when they realsie how much their main asset (after their house) is actually worth, based on the gross recurring fees and other factors. Once this is established it rapidly becomes clear how ineffiicient some of these firms actually are , which makes them ripe for takeover by a predator. but doesn’t push down the value . This is obviously great for practitioners looking to sell up , but for those who cannot afford to quit it should ring alarm bells for them and prod them into action.

The question is not what your target return should be , it is what it could be.

FD’s Maximiti division has a range of free online tools to help you focus on the value of your practice

http://www.formationsdirect.com/accountancypracticegrowth.aspx NOTE TO MARC – THIS LINK LEADS TO A ‘PAGE CANNOT BE FOUND’

FD started out as a UK limited company registration agent in 1994 and remains a market leader. FD is now split into specialist divisions for company restoration, practice growth advice and practice sales, electronic company registers and client ID checking

www.formationsdirect.com

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